Manitoba Pork Producers Advised to Be Aware of Potential PED Contamination when Spreading Manure this Fall

Aug 29, 2022

The Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network is advising pork producers in Manitoba to be particularly cautious when spreading manure this fall due to the high number of manure storages contaminated with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus.

Among the themes of the just released Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network swine disease surveillance report for the second quarter of 2022 was digestive syndrome, any disease or condition related to digestion from the stomach to the intestines that present diarrhea as the main clinical symptom.
CWSHIN Manager Dr. Jette Christensen says this time around this syndrome was completely dominated by the outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in Manitoba while, for all the other conditions under that umbrella, there were no changes.

Clip-Dr. Jette Christensen-Canada West Swine Health Intelligence Network:

This Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea, it was an outbreak that started in Manitoba in October 2021 and since then there's been a total of 122 premises affected with this.However, the good news is that since the last case or the last premise was declared positive for PED on July 12th and since this early to mid July there's been no new cases which is pretty good.

So, all status changes for PED after July 12th have been to an improved status, either recovered to transitional or to presumptive negative which is on the road to being negative so that's really good. But we still have to remember that, since there have been so many infected premises over the last months, there is still a lot of contaminated manure storages out there.

It's important to remember that these contaminated manure storages pose a risk for spread of PED when they're starting to spread the manure.

Source : Farmscape.Ca

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.